SERMON XU. 397 for his saving love. I was also a child of sinand wrath, but di- vine grace has made the difference. It is grace that has snatched me from the very brink of the pit of hell, and is trainingme up for heaven. " And while I adore thy distinguishing mercy, O my God, to me, I would pity and pray for poor heedless and regard- less sinners, that . are following one another in a dismal succes- sion, down to the gates of death. O. maytheir eyes and souls be awakened in their day of life and hope, lest death seize them, and send them farther down to everlasting darkness and despair ! " But if such lessons, as these, be derived from the death of sin- ners, how much more benefit may be drawn from the dying hours of a sincere christian, especially if his heart be strong, and his faith lively ! " Here, I see the gospel of Christ in some of its power and glory, when I see a christian under all the weaknesses and languishings of nature, meeting deathwithout terror, and over- coming his. last entnzy by the blood of the Lamb. I see the saint all serene and peaceful, even in the agoniesof dying nature, and amidst the sorrows, of lamenting friends. He has heaven in view, and he bids farewell to earth with holy joy : Shall I not imitate the faith and holiness of his life, which laid a foundation for so peaceful and glorious a death ? Do I not feel my soul a little more weaned from the world, since such a pious friend has left it ? Has not death lost some of its frightful appearances, since I have actually seen it conquered ? Do I not feel my heart panting and breathing toward the society above, since I have another friend gone thither ? Does it not seem a moreeasy thing to me to lay down this tabernacle, to part with flesh and blood, and to venture into those unseen regions, since I have beheld my fellow-christian go before me? He has made the great and solemn experiment, and surely I should have courage to follow : He has given evident proof, that there is a sacred power in the gospel, the promises and the grace of Christ, to convey the soul safe through the dark shadow of death, without surprise and consternation : And has not my soul the same rich en- couragements, the same promises of grace, and the same gos- pel of hope ? 0° Omy Redeemer, and my Lord, hear a humble suppliant, influence my soul by thy rich grace, to keep my faith awake, my conscience undefiled, and my evidences for heaven ever bright and clear ; And when my appointed hour comes, that solemn and final hour, " let me die the death of the righteous, and my de- parture be like his ;" Num. xxiii. Ill. " Is death an enemy to nature, and does it carry terror in the naine ? Yet since thou hast subdued this enemy, and taken it captive, to serve the pur- poses of thy love, since thou hast numbered it, and written it
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